Islamists linked to al-Qaeda on verge of toppling Somali government

Insurgents linked to al-Qaeda are on the verge of toppling Somalia's Western-backed government amid the worst fighting in the country's capital in more than a year.

By Mike Pflanz in Nairobi

7:29PM BST 15 May 2009

A week of fierce mortar and gun battles in Mogadishu has left the president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, in control of little more than the presidential palace, airport and docks.

More than 135 people have died and 34,000 have fled their homes in the city, leading to warnings from Western security agencies that al-Qaeda could regain a key strategic toehold on the Horn of Africa.

The threat to the government, which assumed office only in December, is spearheaded by the al-Shabaab movement, which is backed by Eritrea and aligned to al-Qaeda. An increasing number of foreign Islamic radicals have joined the battle against Sheikh Sharif's forces, which are backed by 4,300 African Union peacekeepers.

"It is perhaps dangerous to overblow the current threat of al-Qaeda in Somalia, but if the government falls, then it's pretty clear the door is that much more wide open," said a Western diplomat in Nairobi.

On Friday, shops and markets were closed and even some calls to prayer were silenced as large swathes of the war-shattered seafront city were deserted.

Minibuses carrying those who could afford transport streamed south to the relative safety of aid camps where Western charities and the United Nations are trying to help 400,000 displaced people.

More than 17,700 people have died since the Islamist insurgency began in 2007.